(modified) JAOM not "orange-y" enough

[forces]

I've been posting here a lot lately because I am trying to get a "feel" for mead making. I'm working with my second batch, here are the specifics;

5 gallons of mead
roughly 13 # of tropical flower honey
Wyeast "Dry Mead Yeast"
OG ~ 1.090
FG ~ 0.995

I fermented with honey+water+ yeast and nutrients, no flavorings. Once it finished, I transferred to secondary.

Here's my issue

At secondary, I racked onto the zest of 4 oranges, and 5 cinnamon sticks (1/gallon). It's been infusing for a 4-6 weeks.

I took a sample out of the carboy tonight. The cinnamon is definitely shining through. Actually, the cinnamon is almost over powering everything else there. The citrus is faint, if anything. I didn't add the oranges whole, like JAOM because I heard people complaining of a "rotten fruit" taste. Also, I didn't want the bitter from the pith, being that it has very little residual sugar.

I tested the pH on a whim, mostly to see if the orange zest added any detecable citric acid. It did not; pH is about 4.0.

I want more orange flavor. I'm not sure if adding more zest will do the trick though. Will adding fresh squeezed OJ help at all (without adding of flavors)? This may seem like a silly question, but I am treading lightly because my first mead was pretty much a disaster.



Ideas? Experiences?

 

[Taise]

You might want to peel & chop up 4 or 5 oranges and add them to the secondary. Just make sure you are getting as little of the pith as possible.

 

[TheBrewingMedic]

maybe even go as far as zesting a bunch of oranges then peeling them before cutting them up so you get mostly zest and flesh and little pith, that should cut down on the bitterness and less pleasant flavors.

 

[forces]

Any way to avoid the "rotten fruit" complaint?

 

[Arpolis]

Just don't let the fruit sit for too long. Taste test about once every week - two weeks and rack when the appropriate taste is set. Then again my joam sat on fruit for 2.5 month and I dont have a "rotten fruit" issue. But I can taste the pith. The sweet helps that so you may want to look into stabalizing and back sweetening to about a gravity of 1.015 - 1.02.

 

[forces]

What about using clementine peels (trade name: cuties)? They are in season, and have very thin peels. Ergo, less pith.